Goofy debuted in animated cartoons, starting in 1932 with Mickey's Revue as Dippy Dawg, who is older than Goofy would come to be. Later the same year, he was re-imagined as a younger dog, now called Goofy, in the short The Whoopee Party. During the 1930s he was used extensively as part of a comedy trio with Mickey and Donald. Starting in 1939, Goofy was given his own series of shorts that were popular in the 1940s and early 1950s. Two Goofy shorts were nominated for an Oscar: How to Play Football and Aquamania. He also co-starred in a short series with Donald, including Polar Trappers, where they first appeared without Mickey Mouse. Three more Goofy shorts were produced in the 1960s after which Goofy was only seen in television and comics. He returned to theatrical animation in 1983 with Mickey's Christmas Carol. His last theatrical appearance was How to Hook Up Your Home Theater in 2007. Goofy has also been featured in television, most extensively in Goof Troop (1992–1993), as well as House of Mouse (2001–2003) and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (2006–2016).

Originally known as Dippy Dawg, the character is more commonly known simply as "Goofy," a name used in his short film series. In his 50s persona, Goofy was called George Geef, or G. G. Geef, implying that "Goofy" was merely a nickname. In Goofy Gymnastics (1949) he fills out a coupon with the name James Boyd.[2] Sources from the Goof Troop continuity give the character's full name as Goofy Goof, or G. G. Goof, likely a reference to the 1950s name. In many other sources, both animated and comics, the surname Goof continues to be used. In other 2000s-era comics, the character's full name has occasionally been given as Goofus D. Dawg.

Background

Of Disney studio animators, Art Babbitt is most regarded for the creation of the Goofy character, while original concept drawings were by Frank Webb. In a 1930s lecture, Babbitt described the character as "Think of the Goof as a composite of an everlasting optimist, a gullible Good Samaritan, a half-wit, a shiftless, good-natured colored boy and a hick".[3]

Goofy's (unnamed) wife has appeared—but always with her face unseen—in 1950s-produced cartoon shorts depicting the character as a "family man". Goofy's wife dies later on and Goofy states to his son Max in "Goof Troop," "She's up there with the stars" so his modern day appearances portray Goofy as a widower. While raising his son, Max Goof, Goofy's family life contrasts with other major Disney characters such as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, who are always shown only as uncles rather than parental figures. (In comic books, Goofy was regularly featured as having a nephew, Gilbert, but that character has only existed in comics, with no cartoon appearances.) In the European comic books, Goofy has an adventurer cousin called Arizona Goof (original Italian name: Indiana Pipps), who is a spoof of the fictional archaeologist Indiana Jones.

Goofy's catchphrases are "gawrsh!" (which is his usual exclamation of surprise and his way of pronouncing "gosh"), along with "ah-hyuck!" (a distinctive chuckle) that is sometimes followed by a "hoo hoo hoo hoo!", and especially the Goofy holler (see below). Pinto Colvig, who was a man of primarily one voice, would incorporate the unique laugh and speech pattern into otherwise unrelated cartoon characters that he voiced.

According to biographer Neal Gabler, Walt Disney disliked the Goofy cartoons, thinking they were merely "stupid cartoons with gags tied together" with no larger narrative or emotional engagement and a step backwards to the early days of animation. As such, he threatened constantly to terminate the series, but only continued it to provide make-work for his animators.[4] Animation historian Michael Barrier is skeptical of Gabler's claim, saying that his source did not correspond with what was written.[5]

Appearances

Early years

Goofy, AKA Dippy Dawg in his debut cartoon, Mickey's Revue

Goofy first appeared in Mickey's Revue, first released on May 25, 1932. Directed by Wilfred Jackson this short movie features Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Horace Horsecollar and Clarabelle Cow performing another song and dance show. Mickey and his gang's animated shorts by this point routinely featured song and dance numbers. It begins as a typical Mickey cartoon of the time, but what would set this short apart from all that had come before was the appearance of a new character, whose behavior served as a running gag. Dippy Dawg, as he was named by Disney artists (Frank Webb), was a member of the audience. He constantly irritated his fellow spectators by noisily crunching peanuts and laughing loudly, till two of those fellow spectators knocked him out with their mallets (and then did the same exact laugh as he did). This early version of Goofy had other differences with the later and more developed ones besides the name. He was an old man with a white beard, a puffy tail and no trousers, shorts, or undergarments. But the short introduced Goofy's distinct laughter. This laughter was provided by Pinto Colvig. A considerably younger Dippy Dawg then appeared in The Whoopee Party, first released on September 17, 1932, as a party guest and a friend of Mickey and his gang. Dippy Dawg made a total of four appearances in 1932 and two more in 1933, but most of them were mere cameos.

In the Silly Symphonies cartoon The Grasshopper and the Ants, the Grasshopper had an aloof character similar to Goofy and shared the same voice (Pinto Colvig) as the Goofy character.

By his seventh appearance, in Orphan's Benefit first released on August 11, 1934, he gained the new name "Goofy" and became a regular member of the gang along with two other new characters: Donald Duck and Clara Cluck.

Trio years with Mickey and Donald

Mickey's Service Station directed by Ben Sharpsteen, first released on March 16, 1935, was the first of the classic "Mickey, Donald, and Goofy" comedy shorts. Those films had the trio trying to cooperate in performing a certain assignment given to them. Early on they became separated from each other. Then the short's focus started alternating between each of them facing the problems at hand, each in their own way and distinct style of comedy. The end of the short would reunite the three to share the fruits of their efforts, failure more often than success. Clock Cleaners, first released on October 15, 1937, and Lonesome Ghosts, first released on December 24, 1937, are usually considered the highlights of this series and animated classics.

Progressively during the series Mickey's part diminished in favor of Donald, Goofy, and Pluto. The reason for this was simple: Between the easily frustrated Donald and Pluto and the always-living-in-a-world-of-his-own Goofy, Mickey—who became progressively gentler and more laid-back—seemed to act as the straight man of the trio. The Studio's artists found that it had become easier coming up with new gags for Goofy or Donald than Mickey, to a point that Mickey's role had become unnecessary. Polar Trappers, first released on June 17, 1938, was the first film to feature Goofy and Donald as a duo. The short features the duo as partners and owners of "Donald and Goofy Trapping Co." They have settled in the Arctic for an unspecified period of time, to capture live walruses to bring back to civilization. Their food supplies consist of cannedbeans. The focus shifts between Goofy trying to set traps for walruses and Donald trying to catch penguins to use as food — both with the same lack of success. Mickey would return in The Whalers, first released on August 19, 1938, but this and also Tugboat Mickey, released on April 26, 1940, would be the last two shorts to feature all three characters as a team.

Break off into solo series

Goofy next starred at his first solo cartoon Goofy and Wilbur directed by Dick Huemer, first released on March 17, 1939. The short featured Goofy fishing with the help of Wilbur, his pet grasshopper.

The How to... series

Disney showing how to draw Goofy for a group of girls in Argentina, 1941.

In 1939, Colvig had a fallout with Disney and left the studio, leaving Goofy without a voice. According to Leonard Maltin, this is what caused the How to... cartoons of the 1940s in which Goofy had little dialogue, and a narrator (often John McLeish) was used (they would also reuse Colvig's voice in recording or hire a voice actor to imitate it). In the cartoons, Goofy would demonstrate clumsily but always determined and never frustrated, how to do everything from snow ski to sleeping, to football, to riding a horse. The Goofy How to... cartoons worked so well they that they became a staple format, and are still used in current Goofy shorts, the most recent being the How to Hook Up Your Home Theatre, released theatrically in 2007.

Later, starting with How to Play Baseball (1942), Goofy starred in a series of cartoons where every single character in the cartoon was a different version of Goofy. This took Goofy out of the role of just being a clumsy cartoon dog and into an Everyman figure. Colvig returned to Disney in 1944 and resumed the voice of Goofy. Many of the Goofy cartoons were directed by Jack Kinney.

The Everyman years

Goofy in his "George Geef" persona in Cold War (1951)

The 1950s saw Goofy transformed into a family man going through the trials of everyday life, such as dieting, giving up smoking, and the problems of raising children. Walt Disney himself came up with this idea,[7] hoping it would put personality back into the character that he felt was lost when Goofy was merely a crowd of extras. Interestingly, Goofy is never referred to as "Goofy" during this period. While every cartoon continued with the opening, "Walt Disney presents Goofy" before each cartoon's title, he was usually called "George Geef" in the cartoons' dialogue. When the stories featured Goofy as multiple characters, then he had numerous other names as well. In addition, the 1950s Goofy shorts gave Goofy a makeover. He was more intelligent, had smaller eyes with eyebrows, often his whole body was pale instead of just his face (while the rest was black), and sometimes had a normal voice. He even lacked his droopy ears, the external pair of teeth and white gloves in some shorts.

According to animation historian Christopher P. Lehman, Disney had started casting Goofy as a suburbaneveryman in the late 1940s. And with this role came changes in depiction. Goofy's facial stubble and his protruding teeth were removed to give him a more refined look. [8] His clothing changed from a casual style to wearing business suits. He began to look more human and less dog-like, with his ears hidden in his hat. [8] By 1951, Goofy was portrayed as being married and having a son of his own. Neither the wife nor the son was portrayed as dog-like. The wife's face was never seen, but her form was human. The son lacked Goofy's dog-like ears. [8]

Lehman connects this depiction of the character to Disney's use of humor and animal characters to reinforce social conformity. He cites as an example Aquamania (1961), where everyman Goofy drives to the lake for a boat ride. During a scene depicting a pile-up accident, every car involved has a boat hitched to its rear bumper. Goofy is portrayed as one of numerous people who had the same idea about how to spend their day. Every contestant in the boat race also looks like Goofy. [8] Lehman does not think that Disney used these aspects of the film to poke fun at conformity. Instead, the studio apparently accepted conformity as a fundamental aspect of the society of the United States. [8]Aquamania was released in the 1960s, but largely maintained and prolonged the status quo of the 1950s. The decade had changed but the Disney studio followed the same story formulas for theatrical animated shorts it had followed in the previous decade. And Lehman points that Disney received social approval for it. Aquamania itself received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. [8]

Later appearances

After the 1965 educational film Goofy's Freeway Troubles, Goofy was mostly retired except for cameos, because of the fading popularity, and the death of the voice actor Pinto Colvig and he only made a brief appearance in Disney/Amblin's Who Framed Roger Rabbit. However, he made a comeback in Mickey's Christmas Carol as the ghost of Jacob Marley. After that, he appeared in Sport Goofy in Soccermania which was originally intended to be released theatrically in 1984, but was aired as a 1987 TV special instead, his popularity then rose again. With Colvig dead, Goofy was then voiced with different voice actors until Bill Farmer became the official voice. Goofy also had an act in the 1969 tour show, Disney On Parade. His costar in his act was Herbie the Love Bug.

In the 1990s Goofy got his own TV series called Goof Troop. In the show, Goofy lives with his son Max and his cat Waffles, and they live next door to Pete and his family. Goof Troop eventually led to Goofy and Max starring in their own movies: A Goofy Movie (in 1995) and An Extremely Goofy Movie (in 2000).

While Goofy is clearly depicted as a single custodial parent in both films, with the implication that he is a widower, at the end of An Extremely Goofy Movie he begins a romance with the character Sylvia Marpole. In an episode of Bonkers, Goofy has an off-screen cameo whose distinctive laugh is "stolen" by a disgruntled toon. Roger Rabbit refers to Goofy as a "real artist".

On Disney's Toontown Online, an interactive website for kids, Goofy previously ran his own neighborhood called Goofy Speedway until the close of Toontown. Goofy Speedway was a place where you could race cars and enter the Grand Prix, too. Tickets were exclusively spent on everything there, instead of the usual jellybean currency. The Grand Prix only came on "Grand Prix Monday" and "Silly Saturday". Goofy's Gag Shop was also found in almost every part of Toontown' except Cog HQs, Goofy Speedway, or Chip & Dale's Acorn Acres. At Goofy's Gag Shop, Toons could buy gags.

Clarabelle has been noted as Horace Horsecollar's fiancé in early decades, but according to comics from the 1960s and 1970s and more recent cartoons like "House of Mouse," "Mouseworks," and Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers, Goofy and Clarabelle seem to have affections for one another; perhaps as an attempt for Disney to give Goofy a girlfriend to match his two male co-stars. Later in An Extremely Goofy Movie, he gains a girlfriend named Sylvia Marpole.

List of theatrical Donald and Goofy cartoons

Besides his own solo cartoons and supporting character in Mickey shorts, there were also made some theatrical shorts presented as Donald and Goofy cartoons (even though these cartoons are officially Donald shorts):

Movie cameos

In comics

Comic strips first called the character Dippy Dawg but eventually his name changed to Goofy by 1936. In the early years, the other members of Mickey Mouse's gang considered him a meddler and a pest but eventually warmed up to him.

The comic strips drawn by Floyd Gottfredson for Disney were generally based on what was going on in the Mickey Mouse shorts at the time but when Donald Duck's popularity led to Donald Duck gaining his own newspaper strip, Disney decided that he was no longer allowed to appear in Gottfredson's strips. Accordingly, Goofy remained alone as Mickey's sidekick, replacing Horace Horsecollar as Mickey's fellow adventurer and companion. Similarly in comics the Mickey Mouse world with Goofy as Mickey's sidekick was usually very separate from the Donald Duck world and crossovers were rare. Goofy also has a characteristic habit of holding his hand in front of his mouth, a trademark that was introduced by Paul Murry.

A character called "Glory-Bee"[11] was Goofy's girlfriend for some years.

In 1990, when Disney was publishing their own comics, Goofy starred in Goofy Adventures, that featured him starring in various parodies. Unfortunately, perhaps because of poor sales, Goofy Adventures was the first of the company's titles to be cancelled by the Disney Comics Implosion, ending at its 17th issue. Oddly enough, Goofy Adventures was the only one of the cancelled titles to declare its cancellation right there; the other unfortunate titles ended abruptly with no immediate announcement of their cancellation.

can fly, has X-ray vision, invulnerability, super strength, superbreath, and other powers

Super Goof is Goofy's superhero alter ego who gets his powers by eating super goobers (peanuts). His powers mirror some of Superman's. Goofy became the first Disney character to get a career as a superhero, but several would follow — notably Donald Duck as Paperinik.

The initial concept was developed by Disney Publications Dept. head George Sherman and Disney United Kingdom merchandising representative Peter Woods. It was passed on to Western Publishing scripter Del Connell who refined it, including the eventual device of the goobers providing super powers.[12]

Super Goof first appeared in The Phantom Blot #2 (February 1965) by Connell (story) and Paul Murry (art), where he was just imagining that he was a superhero. He made his first appearance as an actual superhero in Donald Duck #102 (July 1965), in the story "All's Well that Ends Awful", also by Connell and Murry. In that story, his powers come from wearing a cape invented by Gyro Gearloose. Beginning with his third appearance, "The Thief of Zanzipar" from Super Goof #1 (October 1965), the origin of his powers is peanuts. In later stories, Super Goof not only encountered the Phantom Blot, but also such adversaries as Black Pete, the Beagle Boys, Emil Eagle, and Mad Madam Mim as well as several characters created for the stories.

Super Goof's secret identity is known only to his nephew Gilbert (and, in French-produced Super Goof stories, to Mickey Mouse as well). This is despite the fact that Super Goof does not wear a mask, his costume consisting solely of a red union suit and a cape (that appear out of seemingly nowhere whenever Goofy eats a goober and change back to his regular clothes when the powers wear off), a likely parody of Superman's poor yet effective means to conceal his identity. Comic relief in the stories would spring from the fact that Super Goof's powers would "wear off" at the least opportune moments, such as when he was flying or in need of super strength. Goofy always kept a few super goobers in his hat, but would occasionally forget to restock, leading to situations in which he would have to get out of trouble without the super powers. In a crossover story, Huey, Dewey and Louie found a super goober plant sprouted by a dropped goober, and "borrowed" Super Goof's powers; after doing a round of super deeds, the ducks' powers faded, and they had to be rescued by the Junior Woodchucks.[13]

On occasion, Gilbert uses the super goobers to become a superhero under the name Super Gilbert (although his uncle calls him Super Gilly).

Super Goof had his own comic book series from 1965 to 1984 with a 74-issue run from Gold Key Comics including a handful of stories scripted by Mark Evanier.[14] Additional Super Goof stories (both original and reprints) appeared in Walt Disney Comics Digest. Reprints were featured in one of the Dynabrite deluxe comics issued by Western in the late 1970s and Disney Comic Album #8 (1990) from Disney Comics. The first release in the German-language Heimliche Helden book series by Ehapa published Oct. 2005 was devoted to Super Goof. Gemstone reprinted a Disney Studio Program story written by Evanier and drawn by Jack Bradbury as a backup in their 2006 release Return of the Blotman. On Disney's Toontown Online during the Halloween season, Goofy is Super Goof for the occasion. He also appeared in one episode of Disney's House of Mouse and in two episodes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

In video games

Kingdom Hearts series

Goofy is captain of the royal guard at Disney Castle in the Kingdom Hearts video game series. Averse to using actual weapons, Goofy fights with a shield. Following a letter left by the missing king Mickey Mouse, Goofy and Donald, the court magician, meet Sora and embark on a quest with him to find the King and Sora's missing friends. In the game series, Goofy still suffers from being the butt of comic relief, but also is the constant voice of optimism and, surprisingly, selectively perceptive, often noticing things others miss and keeping his cool when Sora and Donald lose it. Goofy's loyalty was also tested when Riku wielded the Keyblade thus, following the king's orders, he followed Riku instead. As Riku was about to attack Sora, Goofy used his shield to protect Sora; thus disobeying the king. When Sora, Donald, and Goofy enter the realm known as Timeless River, Goofy states that the world looks familiar; a reference to his cartoons done in the early to mid-1930s. At many times in the Kingdom Hearts series, Goofy is shown to still be his clumsy self, however, in Kingdom Hearts II, he is very keen to details and has very accurate assumptions of certain things. For example, he was the first to figure out why Organization XIII was after the Beast, and he was the first to see through Fa Mulan's disguise and discovery that Mulan was actually a woman dressed as a male soldier. There were even several instances where Goofy seemed to have more common sense than Sora and Donald, even saying they should "look before we leap" when Sora and Donald saw Mushu's shadow resembling a dragon, that Sora had mistaken for a Heartless.

Goofy reappears in the prequel, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, in a relatively minor role, having accompanied Mickey (along with Donald) to Yen Sid's tower to watch Mickey's Mark of Mastery Exam. Upon realizing that Mickey has been abducted and taken to the Keyblade Graveyard by Master Xehanort in an attempt to lure Ventus out, Goofy and Donald prepare to venture out to rescue Mickey, but as they will obviously be no match for Master Xehanort, Ventus goes alone. Donald and Goofy later care for their King as he recuperates from his injuries.

In other video games

This section's factual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(January 2012)

Goofy appears briefly in Quackshot, a Genesis game that starred Donald Duck. Goofy is located within the ancient ruins in Mexico and gives Donald the red plunger (an upgrade to Donald's plunger gun allows the climbing of walls) and a strange note that solves a puzzle in Egypt later in the game.

Concept art for Goofy was made for his appearance in the 2009 & 2010 Wii game, Epic Mickey. He appears as one of the "buddies" that the Mad Doctor creates for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit to replicate the facade of Mickey Mouse's success. A variation of him seems to appear as a minor shopkeeper named Tiki Sam (as shown in the E3 demo).

Disney has needed to deal with a certain amount of confusion concerning the fact that the anthropomorphic Goofy is treated as a human while Pluto (an ordinary dog) is treated as a household pet, despite being of the same species. On their web site, it stated that "Goofy was originally created as Dippy Dawg" and "was created as a human character, as opposed to Pluto, who was a pet, so [Goofy] walked upright and had a speaking voice". This problem was humorously illustrated in the movie Stand By Me in which one of the boys ponders, "Mickey's a mouse, Donald's a duck, and Pluto's a dog. What's Goofy?" There is also an episode of the Disney Channel series Even Stevens called "Scrub Day" wherein Louis' rallying-the-troops speech he wonders why Goofy got to walk and talk and Pluto has to eat from a dog bowl.

This confusion is also mentioned in the French movie La Cité de la peur. In the Disney's Toontown Online event "April Toons Week," characters switch playgrounds and everything is silly. Pluto switches places with Minnie Mouse, and he speaks. A brief gag in an episode of House of Mouse also acknowledges this — Hades asks Goofy, "Are you a man, are you a dog, are you a man-dog. . . what are you?". Goofy simply replies "I'm just Goofy."

The confusion between Goofy and Pluto is also mentioned in an episode of Full House by Dave Coulier. Tina Fey used the term "Goofy Pluto" to refer to seemingly disparate roles for guest stars on 30 Rock, namely the mismatch between Jennifer Aniston playing a character in the show in the same episode in which the cast of Night Court appears as themselves in the episode titled "The One with the Cast of Night Court."[19]

Goofy holler

The Goofy holler is a stock sound effect that is used frequently in Walt Disney cartoons and films. It is the cry Goofy makes when falling or being launched into the air, that can be transcribed as "Yaaaaaaa-hoo-hoo-hoo-hooey!" The holler was originally recorded by yodellerHannès Schroll for the 1941 short The Art of Skiing. Some sources claim that Schrolle was not paid for the recording.[20]Bill Farmer, the current voice of Goofy, demonstrated the "Goofy Holler" in the Disney Treasures DVD The Complete Goofy. He also does this in the Kingdom Hearts games.